Former Premier League player turned pundit Keith Tracey has said Manchester City have a player who simply infuriates him.
Pep Guardiola‘s side are one of the best teams to watch in football, with so many players having brilliant technical ability and also efficiency in their specific roles.
It has been a hugely successful period under Pep, and many players have been improved by him during his time at the club.
But for Treacy, there’s one current City player who actually irritates him to watch – and that player is Jack Grealish.
Grealish has had a stop-start season so far as a result of injury problems. He’s made just 28 appearances so far, and will be hoping to be more influential at the business end of the season.
But he’s got work to do to impress Treacy, who has been explaining why Grealish frustrates him on the Off The Ball YouTube channel…
Keith Treacy accuses Jack Grealish of slowing play down and insists Jeremy Doku is a better option for Manchester City
During his time at City, Grealish has regularly been criticised for not scoring enough goals or making enough assists.
In his 117 appearances for the club, he has scored just 14 goals and made 17 assists.
Graeme Souness has been one pundit who has consistently criticised Grealish for his output in the final third, believing that he holds onto the ball for too long.
Now, Treacy has levelled similar criticism at the £100 million man – and stated that he much prefers Jeremy Doku.
He said: “Grealish does infuriate me as a winger. I love to watch wingers like Doku, he really excites me, Grealish too often for me, he gets the ball and success for him is winning a foul.
“The play slows down with Grealish, and I know he’s trying to overload people, but if you look at Grealish and Doku, Doku is the better option these days. You look at him, £100m, you think he hasn’t really been good enough as a whole.”
Grealish must improve final third output
We know that Grealish is a totally different kind of winger than Doku.
Grealish provides ball retention and control, which are two things that Pep loves. There was a reason why he featured so heavily last season en route to the Treble, and why he often features in the big games.
But there can be no denying that Grealish’s numbers should be better.
There have been plenty of times in games when the 28-year-old could be a little bit more incisive. Whether it be playing a killer pass through as Kevin De Bruyne would, or taking a shot on himself.
It may well be Pep’s orders to recycle the ball if something isn’t completely on. But it does just feel sometimes with Grealish that he could be bolder, and some of his in-game decisions can frustrate the crowd.
If Grealish could actually bump his goals and assist numbers up a bit, he would easily be one of the best wingers in the world.